Do you dread the “what are your hobbies?” question? This happens for several reasons. On one hand, it’s likely that you don’t really know if you have any hobbies to begin with. What exactly classifies as a hobby? Can you say that browsing the Internet all day long and binge-watching House of Cards count as a hobby? And to give some answers before moving on, yes, it does. As long as it’s something that you fill your pastime with because it’s an activity you enjoy, it counts as a hobby.

On another hand, maybe the question poses such a difficulty because you’ve answered it so many times, given so many different hobbies in return, and you’re mildly scared that you’ll abandon this one too. It’s not necessarily a matter of fickleness or how consistent you are in your activities. Some people get easily bored, and hobbies are unfortunate enough not to be able to elude this vicious circle. You think you’ve found that one thing that you can wholly commit to and that you can work towards perfecting for years to come, but one day you’re just not interested anymore all of sudden.

Is there any way to avoid that? How to find a hobby that will be able to fill your time for the rest of your life? This is a very subjective process, and there are as many hobbies out there as there are possible outcomes to this experience.

Always Stick to Your Passions

This might sound like an obvious step, but we mean it less in a “do what you like” kind of way and more in a “don’t try to be edgy or follow the flock” kind. When you ask other people about their hobbies and all you hear left and right are people repeating the same things, you might be tempted to think that they’re boring and, therefore, unworthy of becoming your hobby too.

Who cares? If you go around boasting about your newfound passion for celebrity broom collecting, it all ultimately means nothing if you don’t do it for yourself. Maybe camel hair trimming sounds like a more interesting thing, but if reading is what you really like doing, it’s only a matter of time until you ditch your edgy hobby for the “boring” one. Own your hobby, no matter how basic or – quite the opposite – bizarre and unheard of it is.

Leave Room for Improvement

This speaks for itself. There is no fun in finality because nobody likes goodbyes. Remember how exciting building skills in The Sims is? Well, it’s not exciting per se, but we are all looking forward to seeing what achievement a new level unlocks. Once that gauge is filled, and the maximum skill level is reached, there is nothing left. Transmute this mentality into the real world.

Repetition leads to boredom. If your hobby doesn’t have any new corners left for you to explore, you’ll be stuck doing the same thing forever. This is why hobbies such as painting, reading, movie watching, or playing musical instruments are so popular and generally beloved. There is always something new to them, something more. You can learn new songs, watch new movies and TV shows, read new books, try a new painting. More than that, in the case of painting and music, you can reinvent yourself too. You can adopt a new artistic style or play on the piano rock songs instead.

Intertwine the Hobby with Your Job

If you’ve taken up a hobby that contributes to the improvement of a certain set of skills which are useful in other areas, then the mere existence of this connection is going to solidify your dedication to the respective activity. Let’s say you like yoga. If you work in a stressful environment, you can ease your mind through yoga practice. In conclusion, your hobby is improving your life and is giving you a boost of performance at work, as well as in your personal life.

This can apply for a variety of things, even if they seem unrelated. If you are an engineer who kind of lacks brain-to-hand communication and multi-tasking, pick up a musical instrument, a hobby which was proven to help with this issue. This way, in no time, it will become a mandatory part of your life.